The Avon Maitland District School Board has launched a new program for its students who self-identify as First Nation, Metis or Inuit.
Indigenous Education Lead Teacher, Monique Pregent, reached out to those students recently.
"One of their requests was that they learn their language, but in Huron and Perth counties, we have a number of different languages, so we have a number of different First Nations groups. We have the Ojibwe, we have Cree, we have Mohawk, we have Mi'kmaq," said Pregent.
Pregent says several different First Nation groups are represented in Avon Maitland Schools so they're just finishing up with the Ojibwe classes and then they'll start Mohawk instruction and she's hoping they can finish a course in Cree by the end of the year.
For next year, the goal is to start earlier and add more classes.
Pregent says language is culture, so it's very important that young Indigenous people learn their language.
"Next year we're hoping to expand it to have more lessons, that encompass a lot more, a lot more with the Ojibwe language, learning more words, learning more how to put those words together into sentences," said Pregent.
